Reporter Confronts GOP Senator To His Face Over Viral Screw-Up In Jack Smith Hearing

Nothing about his response made him look even a little less stupid.
Reporter Confronts GOP Senator To His Face Over Viral Screw-Up In Jack Smith Hearing
Credit: Screen Capture via TMZ X video
By Andrea Thompson — September 30, 2026

Yesterday, former special counsel Jack Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his investigations into President Donald Trump.

Republican Senator Eric Schmitt tried to lead the charge against Smith in that hearing, locked and loaded with what he believed was one hell of a "gotcha" moment.

As it turned out, it was one hell of a humiliating moment for Schmitt and his Republican Senate colleagues, after Schmitt proved to the world he forgot to do his homework.

In no uncertain terms, Jack Smith told the committee and the country that he had uncovered "proof beyond reasonable doubt" that President Donald Trump "engaged in serious crimes against our nation."

The GOP couldn't have that. So Schmitt set his sights on proving that Smith had colluded with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who led her own, separate investigation into Donald Trump. As evidence, Schmitt cited text messages he said placed the then-special counsel at an Atlanta Hawks game, with the messages blown up on big foam poster boards and openly referring to Smith as a "total dirtbag."

But as Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar noted, Schmitt had obviously gotten himself confused, because Jack Smith was at an Iowa Hawkeyes women's college basketball game in Maryland on Feb. 3, 2024, nowhere near Atlanta.

MeidasTouch posted the video to prove it:

Schmitt's own Republican Senate colleagues were quite literally left aghast by the monumental blunder, and to say that the moment has gone viral would be a massive understatement.

Naturally, good ole TMZ wanted a chance to hear what Schmitt had to say about the gaffe, so the outlet's DC reporter, Charlie Cotton, cornered him on the street and flat-out asked the senator, "I gotta ask, man, what happened in there?"

In the most pathetic attempt at damage control and face-saving I've ever seen, Schmitt acted as though he hadn't made a mistake at all.

The Republican lawmaker first attempted to act like he didn't even know what Cotton was talking about, asking, "About what?"

"With getting it wrong," the TMZ reporter answered.

"I don't think about it that way," Schmitt responded while still walking.

He then ranted about how much the former special counsel has "lied," saying, "Jack Smith is not credible," before repeatedly telling Cotton that "it was not a mistake." According to Schmitt, he asked Smith if he was in Atlanta and kept implying that Smith was lying about not being in Atlanta in February 2024, despite the video proof that he was in Maryland.

As the whole thing imploded on his head, Schmitt tried to be witty about it, writing on X, "Who knew Jack Smith was a Caitlin Clark fan?"

Everyone in his comments certainly laughed—at him, not with him.

I question how someone could manage to screw up as monumentally as Schmitt did. But even more so, how do you make it WORSE?!

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